Overdoing It
by Gummysaur
Summary: Everyone knows Papyrus is a kind person; he always has been, even as a child. However, he wasn't quite as strong and well-trained back then. Not a good combo when you get lost in the Snowdin Woods with all sorts of monsters-most not nearly as merciful as him. [a sort of backstory fic-papyrus is a young kid, sans is a teen] [cover art by bedsafely]


**more undertale fic, this one's based off of art from the tumblr ask blog, askbabybones. hope you guys like it! \o/**

* * *

 _"Do ya hear that?"_

 _"I think he's coming around again."_

 _"Come on guys, lets get him."_

 _"Is he carrying cash?"_

 _"He always is. This'll be easy. As long as no one interrupts us, we'll have all the food we need."_

 _"Quiet, he's getting closer."_

* * *

The sounds of wind and snow relentlessly tugged at the Snowdin Woods. The chill was a confused, bumbling thing that didn't quite know where to touch. A giggle reached outwards, making the air seem to resonate and fizzle with cheer as Papyrus plunged his boots through the snow, grinning wildly. It hadn't snowed since he was a babybones and he wanted to run in it, even if Sans wanted to be boring and walk. Seriously, not only would they freeze, but they wouldn't get to see what the snow could do if they just strolled around! He caught sight of the trees weighed by the powdery stuff and bounced over. Without further ado, he kicked a tree and a huge pile of it collapsed on his head. Laughing again, he bounded through the paths, poking trees and looking at frozen water sources, generally making a ruckus. He could run as far as he wanted; Sans always seemed to know where he was, anyway. As he settled down to look at an interesting plant, a low snicker reached his ears. He hopped up, finally standing stock still after so much activity. Were some other kids in the forest? Would they play with him?

"Hello?" he called out curiously. "Is anyone there?"

Pausing for a response, but hearing nothing, he huffed and turned back to the plant. Flowers didn't grow very often in Snowdin. This one was a bright gold that stood out against the snow. He was about to reach out and feel its petals before a force hit his head, stunning him.

"Owie!" Papyrus whined, turning around, expecting snow. Instead, three monsters he'd never seen were grinning savagely at him.

"Well, well, well," the one in front, a tall bunny, crooned languidly. "Look who it is." the small skeleton glanced around, wondering where the kids he'd heard were. These weren't monsters his age.

"Who're you?" Papyrus asked, absently rubbing his skull. Surely they'd hurt him on accident. "I've never seen you before. Do you like puzz–"

"You're the kid who comes around here with the cash sometimes, aren't you?" the rabbit suddenly pulled him to his feet by his collar. "Every week, yeah?"

"Well, yep!" Papyrus paid no attention to the tight hand under his chin. Maybe it was a friendly greeting wherever they came from. "Usually my brother Sans comes with me because he says I'm too little to do it on my–"

Rolling his eyes, the monster punched him in the cheek. Papyrus gave a yelp of surprised pain, instantly raising his hands to his now-stinging face. That…would definitely be a strange greeting, but he stayed positive. That Undyne person he heard about liked to punch things and she was very nice! He was about to say maybe they could stick to hand-shakes or hugs but he was cut off.

"I don't care about that. I'd rather get your money."

"M-money?" Papyrus stammered, wiping his cheeks and wincing at the scratches. "I don't have it, Sans d–"

"Don't lie to me," he spat, starting to sound a little desperate. The ones behind him closed in–they looked like Ice Cap and Snowdrake, but a little different. "I want it!" their free paw shot out, the other still clutching his shirt, and patted his pockets. "Where'd you hide it?!"

"I didn't! If I had it, I'd share!" Papyrus insisted. He was telling the truth–maybe they just wanted some Cinnamon Bunnies. He considered offering to buy them some before he was painfully thrown to the ground, his injured cheek scraping against ice-cold snow. He cried out involuntarily and scrambled upwards. "H-hey, you don't have to be mean to get things! I'm sure you can be nice! Sans says–"

"Kid, you come around here all the time _alone_. Don't tell me shit about your 'bro,'" his attacker snarled, taking no mind to watch his language. "Now enough playin' around."

Papyrus gave a sharp yelp in fear as a cold, whirring sensation filled his chest and a white, upside-down heart materialized in front of him. It floated gently as Papyrus held it in his hands, awed and terrified at the same time. It felt like something more precious than even the lamp in their house that Sans always warned him not to touch.

"See that? That's your soul. And I'm gonna snap it if you don't give me what I want."

A strange lump formed in his throat as he lifted up a hand. "W-wait! I don't wanna fight! I'll bring you money later! We can be friends then!"

The bunny summoned an array of snowflakes that looked more solid, more sharp than the ones lazily falling from the sky. The monsters behind him receded and chuckled. "Ready, boys? I like to call this one…whatever, I don't got a name for it. Better get ready, kid!"

Papyrus squeezed his eyes shut and flung his hands over his head, expecting impact and pain. His knees felt like jelly and he would bet that if a gust of wind passed through right now it would knock him over. A second passed and suddenly he felt the wind stop, like something was blocking it. His eyes flew open and he gasped.

At first he thought some big rock had dropped in front of him, but after a second he realized it was Sans. His brother's arm was thrown out to protect him and as Papyrus jumped up to look at his face he saw pure unbridled rage.

 _"Heya."_ his voice made Papyrus flinch. It was completely flat, which wasn't the scary part, it was that Sans sounded on the verge of snapping. He _never_ sounded like that–he was always so collected. Sans' smile widened, jaws so tight it looked painful, and with one fluid motion, all three of the gang's souls were at their chests. He put his hand out in a sharp "stop" gesture and with a loud _ping!_ their souls flickered blue. "What the hell are you doing to my bro?"

Papyrus scrambled back like a bug, staring up at Sans with shock. He had transformed from a calm, carefree friend to some kind of angered bear.

"Maybe you wanna explain yourselves?" he asked coldly, lifting his hand and effortlessly lifting them up. They gave cries and yelps of alarm as he pushed them higher and higher. "Don't you have anything better to do than harm kids?"

Without warning, his left eye flickered blue and electric flame shot outwards from it. Papyrus started to tremble even though he couldn't feel the cold. Sans sharply let go of the two Snowdrake and Ice Cap looking ones, letting them crash to the ground. A field of blue bones went straight through them and they shrieked loudly.

"Grow up, they're blue," Sans continued flippantly. "You won't get hurt if you don't move. It's pretty common around here." He raised the bunny higher until he was up by the tree branches. Papyrus could only watch, mouth wide and eyes popping out.

"L-let me down!" the rabbit shouted in a squeaky voice. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Papyrus felt his soul clench in sympathy for him.

"You think?" Sans growled. He seemed to think of something that brought a fresh wave of rage to his features. A dark atmosphere descended around the clearing and Papyrus felt the crinkle of an alien, threatening magic. Finally getting his bearings, Papyrus scuffled for his footing on the ice and reached for his brother.

"Sans, _stop!_ " he wailed, grabbing his tense arm and forcing it down. "That's enough!"

Sans froze, glancing down towards his little brother. Papyrus flinched at the sight of his blazing eye. Almost immediately, the fire burned off and Sans' eyes returned to their standard pinpricks of white. The tense static quickly vanished and Papyrus couldn't help but feel if he waited a second longer, Sans would've summoned something worse than bones and flame.

"Pap, they're bad," Sans explained, dumbfounded. "They hurt you."

"No, they aren't bad! They just needed money!" Papyrus explained earnestly. "They didn't mean to hurt me, it was just a mistake! Please let him down!"

Sans hesitated before letting the monster drop ungracefully to the ground. He then slowly lowered the fence of blue attacks.

"Fine." Sans swallowed, and he shook his head like he was waking up from sleep. "Alright. Sorry, Papyrus." His eye-lights were smaller than usual.

"Can…" Papyrus fiddled with Sans' sleeve, voice small. "can we go home now?"

"Sure, kiddo," he responded, voice ominously even. He turned to head out of the forest and the rabbit yelled behind him "Y-yeah, you better run!"

Sans only needed to turn around and flicker his eye for a split second before they hopped up and scrambled off. Taking hold of Papyrus' hand, Sans slipped through a shortcut and to their home.

"Papyrus, you know what I said about running where I can't see you," Sans began condescendingly. "You had me real worried, buddo."

Papyrus sniffled and rubbed his eyes. "'m sorry, Sans…" he was still shaking. Sans seemed to be only slightly calmed down–there was still a frozen monotone to his words that made Papyrus shudder.

"No need to be. Just don't do that again, alright? Here, let me heal you."

Papyrus stood admirably still while Sans ran glowing hands over his bruises. He tried to force back his fear until finally he just had to say something.

"Sans?" Papyrus asked quietly. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You used that…blue magic."

"Oh." Sans rubbed the back of his skull. "That's tricky. I'll teach it to you when you're older." He seemed to be calming down. Papyrus decided to venture further.

"I liked it, because they couldn't get hurt unless they moved," Papyrus mumbled, hugging himself. "I was really scared you were gonna hurt them."

Sans hesitated and offered a weak smile. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Paps, but listen. I can make myself look tough, but I'm not dangerous. Even if I try."

Papyrus looked up questioningly and Sans gave an approximation of ruffling his hair. "Bro, see my soul?" Sans summoned it in his hands and Papyrus noticed a small grimace run across his face. "Yeah, it doesn't look like anything great, huh?"

Papyrus ran his hands over his brother's being, noticing how tense Sans' hand looked, as if he was afraid of dropping it. "I guess it's a little small, but what's that mean?"

Sans pocketed his soul. "It means I'm…not nearly as strong as I probably should be."

Papyrus' eyes widened and Sans rushed to reassure him. "But trust me, I can hold my own. A…friend of mine, from a long time ago, gave me this eye…" he tapped the side of his skull for emphasis, "…and…" he trailed off, seeming to debate something in his head before coming to some conclusion. Papyrus couldn't help but think of that…dark, crackly static he'd felt before Sans halted it. "…and yeah. I'm defensive, yknow? I didn't let any of those kids get near me."

"Do you have low HP?" he asked in a far quieter voice than normal. "Could…could someone hurt you with just one hit?"

"Technically," Sans replied with a casual shrug. Papyrus, even at his age, could spot the clear attempt at trying to make this as small a revelation as possible. "but again, I'm no babybones. I used to train with my friend a lot. He taught me how to dodge and how to think fast."

"Think fast?"

"Yeah. Y'know when a monster loses its sight, its hearing gets better? I'm a similar case. My defenses and offenses are no good, nor my HP, but yknow what that leaves?" Sans leaned in as if offering a secret. "My speed stat."

"Oh! So you're fast!" the idea finally clicked and Papyrus realized how his brother had arrived at the scene to shield him so quickly. Sans nodded conspiratorially.

"Yep. But lets keep it our secret, okay?"

Papyrus nodded and took Sans' hand.

"Alright. Lets see if we can get to the store and get what we needed in the first place. Don't worry, we'll take a different route this time."

As they walked off, Papyrus couldn't help but clench his brothers' hand a little harder.

"Bro, you don't gotta hold so hard," Sans assured, not unkindly. "I promise, I won't let any of those guys get near you."

"I know," Papyrus answered, still keeping tight. Oh, Papyrus wasn't worried about himself. He wasn't holding Sans' hand for comfort. "I just wanna make sure you don't get lost like I did."

"I won't, kiddo."

"Promise?"

Papyrus knew Sans wasn't one for making promises, but Sans' next words came without hesitation.

"Yeah. And will you promise me you won't go off fighting people you can't beat?" Sans said teasingly. Papyrus puffed out his cheeks.

"I didn't want to fight them!" he objected. "And even if I did, I could stop them! Then we could get food and be friends."

"I know, I know. But still, promise?"

Papyrus sighed. "I promise, Sans! Now come on, the Cinnamon Bunnies will get cold if we boondoggle any more!"

"Alright, alright," he chuckled. "Hey, look, Grillby's is up ahead."

"Hm." he was busy kicking at and being mesmerized by the powdery snow.

"I think I'm gonna head in there to say hi. Do you want anything?"

"No, I think I'll be fine." Papyrus pat Sans' hand. "I'll wait here."

"Got it."

"Oh, could I hold some of the money though? I'm gonna go for the store." an idea was forming in Papyrus' head, something that would certainly fix the root of the problem.

"Sure, why not. Don't spend it all in one place."

Papyrus laughed and thanked him, already excited. Sans called behind him to stay in one place and not go running for the woods this time and Papyrus acknowledged it with a quick nod. Speeding for the store, keeping an eye peeled, Papyrus enjoyed the snow once again. When he walked in, he greeted the shopkeeper bunny.

"Oh, hello, Papyrus!" she greeted. Warmth and the homey atmosphere covered the small skeleton like a blanket as he stamped his boots on the welcome mat. Sans said it was rude to track snow on the floor. "Where's Sans?"

"At Grillby's," he responded. "Hey, do you know another bunny? He's kind of tall and has a dark puff on his head." After a sufficient amount of stomping, he hopped over to the display case and gave a quick, longing glance at the Bisicles and Cinnamon Bunnies. Oh well, they could wait.

"Oh yeah, he lives nearby. What's up?" she leaned over, elbow on the counter. Papyrus liked this lady; she always paid attention to him and didn't mind his long talks about puzzles.

"Here!" he offered the money to her. "Give this to him and tell him that I hope we can see each other again soon!"

She blinked in surprise, staring down at him, then back at the gold. "Huh? Are you friends with him?"

"Yeah," he said with a bob of his head. "And tell him Sans isn't as scary as he looks."

"Sans? Scary?" she still seemed dumbfounded as Papyrus hopped off towards the exit, waving.

"Okay, thank you, bye!"

She gave a confused call behind him but he was already off.

 _Boy, making new friends was fun!_ Papyrus thought cheerily as he bounded towards Grillby's. He couldn't wait to meet the bunny again.


End file.
